I’d originally grouped Devin in with the other specialists, but his section grew into a post of its own. As I go through other groups, I might have to break them down a bit as well, just to avoid 2000 word posts. I’m not Bill Simmons.

Devin Hester, KR/PR

And now, the big one. Devin Hester is one of the most exciting players to ever put on a Bears uniform. I think he’s a Hall of Famer; no one has ever affected the game more as a returner than Devin has. For multiple seasons, teams routinely refused to kick to him at all, preferring (not unwisely) to give the Bears offense good field position and take their chances stopping Rex Grossman and/or Kyle Orton. And when opponents were forced to kick to him (or mistakenly did so) he made them pay more often than anyone else in league history; he tied Deion Sanders for most all time with his 19th regular season return touchdown this season. But if you count his Super Bowl kickoff return, and I don’t see why you shouldn’t for this sort of career statistic, he has 20. In any case, I have no doubt he’ll break the record outright at some point; the only question is whether he’ll still be in a Bears uniform when he does it.

For awhile, the Bears tried to position Hester as a #1 wide receiver, a role for which he was never suited. That changed this year, as Marc Trestman shifted Devin back to a full-time return man; he was rewarded with a league-leading 1442 kickoff return yards. Of course, he had nine more opportunities than the next return man thanks to the Bears inability to stop their opponents, but his average return distance of 27.7 ranked fifth in the league. Hilariously, he didn’t return enough punts to qualify for the punting categories; had he been qualified, his 14.2 yard average would have been third in the league. (A note: the Bears defense forced just 58 punts from their opponents, dead last in the league and 40 fewer than the league-leading Ravens. The Bears forced 88 last season, which was good for 8th. What a sorry year defensively.)

Hester only had one return touchdown, the aforementioned record-tier against the Rams. He had multiple near-misses, though; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many kickers and punters trip him up before. A few breaks here and there and he could have scored three or four more times. He still maddeningly refuses to field punts on occasion (which also contributed to his low return total) and he sometimes runs backwards once he does field the ball, resulting in a negative return. But when he’s fielding it on the run, making a quick cut, and hitting the jets, he can still create some very beautiful things.

So what should the Bears do with him? He’s a free agent, and considering his performance I’d think they would be happy to have him back on a team-friendly, short-term deal; he’ll be 32 next year, and spending bigger money on a full-time return man might not be a luxury the Bears want to consider. But that might not be what Devin is looking for, and it’s hard to blame him; he had a great year, and there are plenty of teams with cap room who might want to inject what he brings into their team. He’s still a weapon, and if the Bears are priced out, he’ll have his suitors. (Including, perhaps, a reunion with Lovie Smith in Tampa. Hester is from Florida, and he was always very close to Lovie.) If he does leave, the Bears have an early contender for a replacement in the recently signed Chris Williams, a former CFL return star who had been on the Saints practice squad.

If it’s time for Devin to move on, then that’s the way it goes. There is a business side to things, and I would understand it from both sides. It’d just be a shame, because this season we saw something of a return to form, glimpses of the player that he used to be before a positional shift and an increased offensive workload wore him down. I liked having that Devin Hester back, and if there’s a way to make it work for all parties without hampering the defensive overhaul, I’d be more than happy to have him back for 2014 as well.

19 responses to “Offseason Review: The Return Man”

would like to see Hester back, but would certainly need to be a team friendly deal. As soley a return man, that makes the team carry 4 specialists (K, P, LS, KR/PR) so financially it has to make sense. Another couple of guys who are possible replacemtns are Michael Ford (UDFA out of LSU, had a strong preseason last yr and was 3rd RB), and Eric Weems (who i believe was a Pro Bowler in ATL…but could also very well be cut).

Not to mention the return game is a great place to have some of your mid round draft picks contribute right away, if that is a skill they possess. But if we’ve learned one thing about Emery and even Trestman, they do an outstanding job of taking emotion out of it. This will be a decision based on football and the business of.

You’re right on both of those. They seemed to like Ford a lot as a returner, and Weems is certainly a core special teamer, if he sticks around. (They’re carrying a lot of wide receivers, but if Earl is cut Weems would be more likely to stay, in my opinion.)

Considering he is nearing the end of his career, he will probably want to make the most out of every contract he can get. He had a great career with the Bears, and I will be sad to see him go, but there is little doubt in my mind he is a goner and sets the record elsewhere.

Given that most kickoffs result touchbacks in today’s NFL, it is pointless to pay a return specialist anything above the league minimum. Unless Hester is willing to take a significant pay cut, I would not bring him back. The Bears could use an undrafted rookie or someone like Michael Ford to return kicks and not see a large decrease in production from Hester. Having watched every home game this season from a corner end-zone view, I can say that Hester is not the same player he once was. He does not hit the open hole or even find the open hole the same way as he used to. You were great, Devin, but its time to move on.

The touchback thing is a solid point, although 8 yards deep didn’t seem to stop Devin. (He got back to at least the 20 on a more consistent basis this year, it seemed like. I have no real data to back that up, although his massive kick return yards total and high average would seem to speak to that.)

I also agree that he’s more of a luxury at this point. Might be time to move on. Cap room might be better served on defense.

I’d like to see Hester back if we can manage it on the cheap. But seeing as that’s unlikely to happen, I’d like to see him go play for Lovie again, just for the laughs that would ensue when Lovie inevitably tries to make him the #1 receiver again.

i think this is overplayed in the media. i look at the bucs roster, and they dont have a need for the bears FA. Tillman? They have Revis and Banks. Briggs? Not a free agent and They have one of the better young guys in Lavonte David. Wooton maybe, but not a tremendous fit. I don’t see anyone notable going over there with him.

right right, and that was actually my first thought also. but another thing really blown out of proportion is the tampa 2. lovie doesnt run it nearly as much, and actually he claims that towards the end of his bears tenure he was running a lot more man coverage. which of course would be best suited for Revis. that def has a lot of talented pieces. young guys too. i just dont see a lot of these older bears vets having much of a place on that young of a roster. which could maybe help them in retaining tillman, should A. they want to or B. he want to.

And someone on Twitter (I think it was @smartfootball but I can’t find it to make sure) noted that from what he saw, their most common defense at the end was cover 2 man, which means the safeties were in zone, but the corners played man. (You might have known that already, I don’t want to be condescending. All of my visualization of defensive schemes comes from the playcall window on Madden.)

“All of my visualization of defensive schemes comes from the playcall window on Madden”

Isn’t that how everyone in our generation learned defensive coverages?

I have seen quite a bit on Lovie didn’t actually run Tampa 2, but like I said usually I tune out anything Revis related, so I didn’t have too much info on that story. He just rubs me the wrong way I guess.

yeah not a fan of Revis either. But like Jay said, a lot more 2-man was run. That could be pretty lethal.Revis and Banks manning up, Barron and Goldson over the top.

Tillman just wouldn’t fit. I don’t think they’d be willing to stunt the growth of Banks for a 33 yr old corner. I still believe his best option is to remain a Bear…could be the Urlacher situation again.

Official BN Apparel

Archives

Disclaimer

In addition to news, Bleacher Nation publishes both rumor and opinion, as well as information reported by other sources. Information on Bleacher Nation may contain errors or inaccuracies, though we try to avoid them. Links to content and the quotation of material from other news sources are not the responsibility of Bleacher Nation. Photos used either are the property of Bleacher Nation or are believed to be in the public domain. Legitimate requests to remove copyrighted photos not in the public domain will be honored promptly.